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From Friday’s The Oklahoman: 

By Matthew Price
Assistant Features Editor

WORD BALLOONS

Writer Neil Kleid deconstructs superheroes with his Zuda.com submission, “Action,

Ohio.”  Kleid is a Xeric-award winning comic-book creator who has written “

Brownsville,” “Ursa Minors” and “Ninety Candles.” He answered a few questions about the Web comic for The Oklahoman:

Q: How did you come up with Action,

Ohio?

A: When I first wrote Action, Ohio, it was called Marvel,

Ohio. I pitched it around the House of Ideas as a superhero deconstruction set in the real world that focused on the Silver Age Stan Lee-Jack Kirby characters. The basic idea was that Stan and Jack had created these characters to divert attention from their real life counterparts — a small town in

Ohio where power wasn’t always a gift. The veneer Stan and Jack created to hide them from the world was shattered by the rude awakening of a group of rebels, the impetus for the Marvel supervillains. Over the years, themes and motivations changed, the characters went through transformations but there was always the fascination of the Silver Age. What I finally understood was that I needed to use these characters as a door to open the Pandora’s Box of the entire Silver Age of comic books. Paul Salvi, the artist, helped me expand on the story, focusing on the themes of exploration for heroism, courage, sacrifice and truth.

Q: Tell me about the story.

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